Where the Approved Budget Sits After It Is Signed

What the approved budget is

The approved budget is an Appropriation Act at the national level or an Appropriation Law at the state level. The President or Governor signs the document after the House of Assembly passes it. The signed budget authorises public spending for the fiscal year. It lists the amounts each ministry, department, and agency can spend, and the projects each amount funds.

How it moves after signing

After the executive signs the budget, the document follows a set path. The Government Printer receives the signed copy for publication in the official gazette. The Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General's office receive copies to guide the release of funds. Each spending ministry receives the sections that cover its allocations. The Office of the Auditor-General receives a copy to use when checking expenditure at the end of the year.

This movement is a physical and digital process. A printed, signed copy goes to the printer. A digital version, often a PDF, goes to the treasury for its portal. The process ensures each office that needs the budget for its work holds an authentic version.

What it does not cover

The signed Appropriation Act does not cover the detailed spending records that follow. It authorises spending but does not record the actual cash releases, the contract awards, or the payments to suppliers. Those records live in separate documents: the treasury cash plan, the ministry expenditure ledgers, and the payment vouchers. A reader who finds the signed budget has found the authority for spending, not the evidence that spending happened.

Where the records live

A reader can find the approved budget in three main places. The official gazette, published by the Government Printer, contains the full text of the law. The Ministry of Finance budget portal holds the digital version, often with searchable tables. The physical library of the House of Assembly keeps the signed original and the printed copies distributed to members. Some state assemblies also publish the law on their own online platforms.

What WATAG does with this

The WATAG Budget Monitoring programme trains participants to find the approved budget in each of these locations. Participants learn to check the gazette for the authentic version, to navigate the treasury portal for the digital tables, and to confirm that the version a ministry uses matches the published law. This is the first skill in tracking how a budget allocation becomes actual public spending.